2014 IT Salary Survey

Information Week recently released its annual US IT Salary Survey Report. This survey is the largest employee-based IT salary survey in the country, and measures various aspects of pay, benefits, and job satisfaction.

According to the survey, the good news continues for information technology professionals – their pay rose, albeit modestly, during the past year. Of 5.945 IT staffers and 5,717 IT managers, total compensation rose 1.6% for staffers, and 2.4% for managers.

Here are a few other findings.

• Positive Perception. Forty-eight percent of workers believe their industry is more promising than it was five years ago (a 15-point jump from 2011). Fifty-five percent of managers feel it’s more promising (also a 15-point jump).

• The Highest Earners. Wall Street, biotech, energy, consumer goods, financial services, IT and electronics, and consulting industry managers earn the most. Their median total compensation is $140,000. Education, Nonprofit, and government IT managers earn the least, at $94,000 median yearly compensation or less.

• What Motivates. It turns out different people require different incentives. Of 24 satisfaction drivers listed in the survey, no single factor was selected by half of respondents. However, staffers chose “base pay” most often and managers chose “having my opinion and knowledge valued” most often.

• Gender Gap. Unfortunately, a gender gap does remain in the IT industry. Male staffers make roughly 16% more than females, and male managers make about 11% more.